In Honor
by Creekrunner
Summary: I wrote this One-shot as a Christmas present for a family that my family and I are friends with. A very close friend of theirs recently lost his battle with cancer and I wanted to show them my sympathy. I hope they find comfort and/or closure in my writing. I have made sure their friend will always be remembered as a true warrior. May he rest in peace.


In Honor

**A/N: I wrote this story for a family that my family and I are friends with. One of their closest friends recently lost his battle with cancer and this is my way of showing my sympathy. This is also my Christmas present to them. I am going to send them the link to this story and have them read it. I only hope this little one-shot can offer them some comfort in this hard time. **

**I was very emotional writing this, I almost reduced myself to tears! I hope they like this present I have prepared for them. **

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><p><span>Characters <span>

Horsepaw/fur – Black and white tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Falconflight – Dark ginger and white tabby tom with umber eyes

Sparrowpaw/pelt – Light gray tom with darker stripes and yellow eyes

Berrychaser – Black and gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Thornfur – Pale brown tabby tom with pale green eyes

Mudpelt – Brown tabby tom with green eyes

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><p>"No! Mudpelt!" a ginger and white tom threw off his opponent and leaped to his friend's aid, knocking his enemy off. But he was too late, Mudpelt lay dying on the leaf strewn ground.<p>

"F-Falconflight," Mudpelt stuttered, blood trickling from his lacerated pelt.

"What is it old friend?" murmured Falconflight. Time seemed to slow around them and the sounds of battle faded. Falconflight was barely restraining the tears that were to come.

"T-Tell my mate a-and kits I-I love them," those were the tom's last words before his green eyes closed forever. Falconflight threw back his head and wailed his sorrow to the sky. As his wail of grief ended, he threw himself at the nearest RiverClan warrior and proceeded to tear her apart.

But he was blinded by sorrow and rage caused by the death of Mudpelt. The she-cat threw him off easily and scored her claws across his belly. Falconflight felt not an inkling of pain, though, and lashed out blindly, sometimes hitting his target.

"Retreat! RiverClan retreat!" At this, the she-cat jumped off of Falconflight and raced away after her Clanmates. The ginger- and- white warrior slowly got to his paws and trudged over to where Mudpelt lay.

"I'll miss you old friend," he murmered, pressing his nose into the cold fur of his friend. The tears could not be held back any longer and rolled slowly down Falconflight's ginger cheeks. He lay like this for what seemed like forever before a nose gently guided him to his paws.

It was his mate Berrychaser. Her blue eyes were full of pain and sadness, "We will all miss him, Falconflight."

"Me more than most. He was my friend since I was not even a moon old. I don't know what I'll do without him," Falconflight sighed and slowly got to his paws. He grabbed the scruff of his dead friend and began dragging him back to the ThunderClan camp.

As he dragged Mudpelt down the ravine, Falconflight reflected on all the good times they'd had together. The time they first met, sneaking out of the camp as kits, all the times they had fought side by side.

Berrychaser padded beside him and as they reached the gorse tunnel she took some of the weight of the body away from Falconflight. Thorns scraped their pelts as they dragged the brown tom into the camp.

As they entered the camp, a black and white she-cat came dashing towards them from a clump of ferns. She was closely followed by a light gray tom with darker stripes. Their eyes showed their excitement as they reached their parents.

"How did it go? Did you win? Did you crush those mangy…" The flood of questions cut off abruptly as the apprentices caught sight of Mudpelt, "Wh-What happened to Mudpelt?" the she-cat asked.

Her blue eyes were filled with worry for her friend, "He-He is dead," meowed Falconflight, "Mudpelt died a warrior's death; fighting for his Clan."

The worry in the young cats' eyes, blue and yellow, turned from worry to pain and sorrow in an instant, "Horsepaw, Sparrowpaw, it-it's okay. He's in a better place now, up in the stars with our ancestors," mewed Berrychaser, trying to comfort herself as much as her kits.

Falconflight dragged his friend to the center of the clearing and lay down in the dying sunlight for the vigil. His mate and kits joined them as well as Mudpelt's brother, "First I lose Lightningtail in a thunderpath accident and now I lose Mudpelt to a mangy RiverClan warrior."

The apprentices raised their heads and wailed to the stars. Mudpelt had been like a second father to them and his death tore them apart, "I'm gonna m-miss him. I remember when he g-gave me the badger tooth he won from a RiverClan warrior," meowed Sparrowpaw sadly.

Unlike most ThunderClan warriors, Mudpelt liked to collect trinkets from all over the forest and the moorland. Sometimes, he would spar other trinket collectors for one of their finds. He took pride in his collection and even gave the badger tooth to the gray tom.

Falconflight could find no words to express his sorrow. Being the only kit in his litter, Mudpelt had been like a brother to him. It hurt him beyond compare to lose his friend.

The mourners lay like this until the sun shined over the trees and it was time for the elders to take Mudpelt's body away for burial. The medicine cat performed the ceremony to help his spirit to StarClan and he was taken away.

Falconflight, Thornfur, and Berrychaser sat with the apprentices as they watched, tears in their eyes, as Mudpelt was taken away. They hadn't the spirit to let loose any more mournful yowls. As Mudpelt's brown tail disappeared from sight, the other cats dispersed leaving the broken family to mourn in peace.

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><p>Moons passed and still the wounds from Mudpelt's death refused to heal. Falconflight in particular was affected. He would mope around camp, snapping at anyone who put a paw out of place. Cats were afraid to talk to him for fear that he would snap their head off.<p>

The apprentices had become warriors. Horsepaw became Horsefur and Sparrowpaw took the name Sparrowpelt in honor of Mudpelt. Their wounds had not healed either and they were often unable to sleep because of the intense grief they felt.

Berrychaser and Thornfur had managed to heal their wounds somewhat. They had tried to forget what had happened and were often called cold-hearted for trying to wipe Mudpelt's death from their memories.

But they were still broken and often left the camp to mourn at the brown tom's grave in silence. All of them knew, though, that something had to be done, something must be done to give them closure or their wounds would never heal.

The problem was, they could think of no way to rid themselves of the pain. Until, one night, when all others were asleep, something amazing happened.

As usual, none of them could sleep and had wandered into the clearing, seeking solace in each other. As they lay, staring at the sky, the stars began to shift and move. They swirled and spiraled down to the earth.

The stars slowly drifted onto the Highrock and took form. The shape became more solid and began to take on a brown color. When the stars finally stopped moving, a cat stood atop the Highrock. It was Mudpelt, seemingly back from the dead. Utter silence followed.

"M-M-Mudpelt i-is it really you?" Falconflight finally stammered. His umber eyes were wide with disbelief and his ginger and white fur was on end.

"Yes, old friend. StarClan has allowed me to return to the earth to offer you closure," the spirit stated, "I have watched you since my death and I feel as if I have caused you much pain with my death. I'm sorry."

Sparrowpelt stepped forward, "So, how do you plan to offer us closure?" His tone was disbelieving and suspicious. The gray tom obviously thought this was some sick joke.

The spirit of Mudpelt sighed, "I know you think I am not real, but I assure you my friend I'm as real as Sunningrocks," he turned his attention to all of them, "Do not let my death weigh you down. I am but a thing of the past and I don't want you to waste your lives away wallowing in grief."

"Remember, I am still alive in a way. I live on in your hearts and as long as you keep my memory alive, I will live forever in my starry haven," the StarClan warrior paused for breath, his starry green gaze meeting the eyes of each cat, first Falconflight then Thornfur, and lastly Berrychaser and her kits.

"If you let grief and pain corrupt your mind, you will die together, yet alone with your sorrow. Moping around camp and shedding tears is no way to live. I want you to live your own lives. You can't forget, though, or I'll fade away. Keep me alive in your hearts but don't be afraid to live your own lives."

The living cats turned to look at each other. Mudpelt's speech had opened their eyes to how they'd been living for the past few moons. They realized the error of their ways in a heartbeat.

"We had no idea. I cannot believe we've been so blind for so long," murmured Berrychaser then louder, "Thank you, Mudpelt, for returning to offer us solace and closure. We will live much happier now that we can correct the error of our ways, thank you."

Just then, a flash of light flew across the sky. Mudpelt raised his head, "It's time for me to return to the stars. Farewell my friends; watch over each other and remember, I'll be watching from my place in StarClan."

And with that, Mudpelt's spirit disappeared in a whirlwind of stars and took his rightful place in the night sky. The cats in the clearing were left staring at the Highrock in wonder, and inwardly their wounds were healing, closing up.

They now accepted Mudpelt's death and were ready to move on. They sat there under the stars, thinking about what they had just heard.

As the sun kissed the treetops, they slowly got to their paws and padded back to their nests, feeling enlightened and at peace.

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><p>The next day, they each took something of Mudpelt's trinket collection and took it to his grave. Sparrowpelt brought the badger tooth, Horsefur brough a snail shell, Thornfur a shriveled holly stem, Berrychaser a shiny pebble. And last but not least, Falconflight brought a large pinecone.<p>

In turn, they each set their trinket on the grave and muttered "In honor," they left out Mudpelt's name for they did not see it as necessary. They then turned and trudged back to camp, ready at last to continue on with life and put the past behind them.

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><p><strong>AN: To the family: I hope this helped you find some comfort and/or closure. Your friend will always be remembered as a true warrior. May he rest in peace.  
><strong>


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